Sony A7x lounge

Puckman wrote in post #17660108
You know. So far, I'm not getting that overwhelming warm-fuzzy from the A7R2 AF. Some lenses work well. Some don't...Seems like there was a bit of hype there. So I'm once again, debating on what my next move is...

Speaking of...David A...Did you return that 5DS? Still looking to sell it?

AF with adapted lenses has its quirks. It’s actually good enough for most shooting and it was perfectly capable of shooting my son’s birthday celebration the other day. In low light it struggles to focus, but using a larger AF area helps overcome this. AF-C works surprisingly well, but you lose the predictive AF modes and things like eye-focus.

My take is that it’s awesome that you’re able to get very simple AF with the a7rII, but for those who have more demanding AF needs, it’s not a replacement for a canon lens on a native body, or a native lens on the a7rII. Definitely not a solution for sports and wild-life shooters.

AF with native lenses is very good though. Its ever so slightly slower than a DSLR, but there are some big upsides to the AF as well. No MFA needed, eye-focus, focus peaking, focus magnification, etc etc.

navydoc wrote in post #17660130
Don't forget, this camera has only been out for two days so it may be a bit premature to pass judgement on how well everything works. We are, or at least I am still learning our/my way around the new settings, etc.

Yeah there are nuances to figure out...like the fact that small selectable points aren't too reliable in low light, but medium and large ones are.

Also, it'll be interesting to see how things improve once metabones refines their adapters specifically for the phase detect systems in the a7 series. These adapters were designed when contrast detect AF was the only method available....very different communication between the lens and body with contrast detect vs phase detect. Also, having picked up the original a7r when it first hit the market, I've seen how much the a7r improved via firmware updates and am interested in seeing how things are further refined with the a7rII

vinmunoz wrote in post #17660134
Todd, the Dynamic range advantage is huge. 5DS DR is just like the 5D3 according to www.

Yes. Not every scene comes close to needing greater DR than the 5DS R's 12.4 stops. BUT, when the need is there I want that Sony sensor close at hand!

The 5DS R does have a .7 Stop greater DR than the 5D III and it doesn't have ugly pattern noise in the shadows, so it is not exactly the same as a scaled up 5D III. However, that is generally a good way to think of it. I am quite impressed with the 5DS and 5DS R at higher ISO. You'd think it would be pretty crappy since Canon capped the native ISO to 6400, but it's on par, or even a touch cleaner than the 5D III when downsampled to 22.3 MP:

http://www.the-digital-picture.com …2&TestComp=0&IS​OComp=3200


The a7R II is a much better sensor and is loaded with great technology, but a. I have never struggled to get great results from the 5D III, or the 5DS, and b. 50.6 MP is just flat-out awesome. Yes, I am a resolution junkie.

xpfloyd wrote in post #17660156
Thanks Gene. Sorry I should have been more clear. I currently have a speedlight (yongnuo) that I used on my A7R so im assuming it will work on my A7RII however im looking to pick up a strobe and was wondering if anyone could recommend me an entry level one . Off topic for this thread but thought I would ask you guys anyway as got zero responses in the lighting forum. After watching Miguel Quiles' (Ten Ounce) video in the batis 85 thread where he was shooting dramatic portraits with a single strobe on his A7II I really want to give it a go. Ive got this idea inmy head of shooting a dramatic portrait of everyone in my extended family as a sort of snapshot in time of everyone.

You do know that this is something that can be done with just a single off-camera flash (in a softbox), right? I took this (similar) picture way before I saw his video.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nQd3​Xg

jocau wrote in post #17660178
You do know that this is something that can be done with just a single off-camera flash (in a softbox), right? I took this (similar) picture way before I saw his video.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/nQd3​Xg
Me, Myself & I by jocau80, on Flickr

You make a good point jocau, perhaps I should pick up a softbox first and see how I get on with the speedlight

I thought I'd share this curiosity with everyone. I like using Photo ninja as my raw editor for many of my images. When I ran raw files from my a7rII through it and then imported into PS, I noticed a different image size. It's not by much but I thought it was interesting to get a full 8,000 pixels on the long side straight from the raw file.

xpfloyd wrote in post #17660181
You make a good point jocau, perhaps I should pick up a softbox first and see how I get on with the speedlight

That's how I would do it. It could save you a lot of money. I must say I had a pretty powerful flash in my softbox though (580EX II), but I'm not sure anymore at which flash power level I shot that image.

navydoc wrote in post #17660182
I thought I'd share this curiosity with everyone. I like using Photo ninja as my raw editor for many of my images. When I ran raw files from my a7rII through it and then imported into PS, I noticed a different image size. It's not by much but I thought it was interesting to get a full 8,000 pixels on the long side straight from the raw file.

Hosted photo: posted by navydoc in
./showthread.php?p=176​60182&i=i250631166
forum: Sony Digital Cameras

Wow, you totally missed focus on that tick's eyeball. Seriously cool though.

Puckman wrote in post #17660108
You know. So far, I'm not getting that overwhelming warm-fuzzy from the A7R2 AF. Some lenses work well. Some don't...Seems like there was a bit of hype there. So I'm once again, debating on what my next move is...

Yeah, I figured it was a little overhyped by Sony, but it sounds like the two lenses I hope to use the AF on work pretty well (the 24-70 and 70-200 f2.8).

xpfloyd wrote in post #17660136
Any of you guys here use strobes for portrait work? Trying to get a recommendation for an entry level strobe but no joy yet. Question is unanswered in the lighting forum

Eddie, I found this useful

http://youtu.be/g80pPq​MtVNM

@xpfloyd: a video training which I found very useful is OneLight 2.0 by Zack Arias (I got a nice discount because I pre-ordered it). It shows you what's possible with just one light.

xpfloyd wrote in post #17660181
You make a good point jocau, perhaps I should pick up a softbox first and see how I get on with the speedlight

I believe most people in the UK and Europe that get started with quality strobes usually go with Elinchrom. I know you can run the PCB Einsteins over there (they have a 240v setup) but I think they're hard to come by.

The problem with speedlites is that you run out of power, very quickly. Jocau is right, in that it's a good way to get your feet wet, but you might struggle to hit f8/f11 at base ISO in a studio setup using modifiers unless you've got 4-5 speedlites or your lights are in verrry close.

It just depends on what your goals are.

BrandonSi wrote in post #17660211
I believe most people in the UK and Europe that get started with quality strobes usually go with Elinchrom. I know you can run the PCB Einsteins over there (they have a 240v setup) but I think they're hard to come by.

The problem with speedlites is that you run out of power, very quickly. Jocau is right, in that it's a good way to get your feet wet, but you might struggle to hit f8/f11 at base ISO in a studio setup using modifiers unless you've got 4-5 speedlites or your lights are in verrry close.

I was looking at elinchrom earlier. The d-lite rx 4 seems reasonably priced. For the shots I'm looking to give a try it will be wide open and the subject very close to the softbox. Miguel had his strobe on minimum setting and also used a 3 stop ND. A speedlight may just be enough for this

Oh and I forgot to mention. In his OneLight 2.0 video training Zack has some really wise words about strobes vs flashes and he also mentions a few options for both flashes and strobes.

Here's what I'm referring to in case some haven't seen it http://youtu.be/eiQpmr​XYOwQ

Shot with an a7ii and batis 85 so kinda on topic in here

Skip to 1 hour 48 mins to see one of the shots

xpfloyd wrote in post #17660215
I was looking at elinchrom earlier. The d-lite rx 4 seems reasonably priced. For the shots I'm looking to give a try it will be wide open and the subject very close to the softbox. Miguel had his strobe on minimum setting and also used a 3 stop ND. A speedlight may just be enough for this

Yep, like I said, just depends on what you want to do.. Lots of options, and speedlites are great to get started.

These two were with speedlites..